On the Vistoria Continent, the ranks of mages are divided into Apprentice Mage, Great Mage, Archmage, Mage Sealer, Demon King, and Demon Emperor.
For an ordinary person to become a mage, they must first be able to draw upon the magical power between heaven and earth.
But in this world where spells possess tremendous power, even the lowest rank of Apprentice Mage is not something just anyone can achieve.
To become an Apprentice Mage, one must master at least three spells and reach the Proficient stage.
Throughout history, the sages of the Vistoria Continent established a system of stages for all spellcasters to measure their current state.
This is determined by the speed of a spell’s release, its power, and the completeness it maintains even when disrupted.
A mage’s mastery of a single spell is divided into four stages: [Basic], [Proficient], [Master], and [Grandmaster].
A total of four stages.
[Basic] is the most ordinary stage, achievable by anyone with normal intelligence.
At this stage, one only needs to grasp the fundamental structure and release of a spell, and be able to cast it completely to be considered qualified.
However, advancing even one stage among these four requires unimaginable effort and time.
Even the leap from [Basic] to [Proficient] has stumped countless people.
In other words, becoming an Apprentice Mage on the Vistoria Continent is no easy feat.
Even if you know three spells, you must practice them day after day until they reach the [Proficient] stage before you can truly call yourself an Apprentice Mage.
Otherwise, you wouldn’t even qualify as the lowest-ranked Apprentice Mage.
This is precisely why mages possess such overwhelming spell power, yet face an insurmountable chasm in mastering their craft.
And someone like Xi’eryou, a Magic Swordman cultivating both martial and magical arts, is a peerless genius rarely seen in the world.
The weakness Ophelia attacked in Velis was exactly this.
According to intelligence, among the spells Velis had mastered, only the Blade of Qi had reached the Proficient stage, while all her other spells remained at [Basic].
By that calculation, even though she was a mage capable of using magic, she didn’t qualify as an Apprentice Mage under the continent’s universal rules.
If she couldn’t even reach [Proficient] in the spells she knew, she had no right to compare herself to the sages of old, let alone stand here today as a teacher.
Velis was well aware of this, which was why her performance left Ophelia speechless.
Every spell has its own standard definition for reaching the [Proficient] stage, and because each spell differs in complexity and power, those standards vary as well.
Facing Ophelia’s next attack, Velis took a deep breath, her red lips parting slightly.
“Flame Armor!”
The moment Velis spoke, the Flame Armor erupted from her body and enveloped her entirely in an instant.
Flames blazed high, sparks scattering like falling stars.
At this moment, Velis shone as brilliantly as the Solar Saintess descending from the heavens.
“Everyone present is an Imperial Elite. As for whether my Flame Armor’s release has reached the [Proficient] stage, I trust it’s plain for all to see, isn’t it?”
As Velis finished speaking, a professor stood up to evaluate.
“The flame rises with the heart, the armor’s blaze spreads vast, covering the body without a single leak! Fierce yet gentle, not a single scorch mark anywhere near Her Highness the Princess—this shows her level of control!”
“Both in terms of release speed and completeness, it has undoubtedly reached the Proficient stage!”
“Moreover, the Flame Armor flows seamlessly, violent on the outer layer and gentle within—this can no longer be summarized by mere proficiency! Your Highness, have you made your own improvements to the Flame Armor spell?”
As soon as the professor finished, all the teachers and students present gasped in shock.
Improved spellcraft?
Aside from certain peerless geniuses, only powerful mages at the Mage Sealer rank or above could accomplish such a feat!
Even in history, those who did so were prodigies already displaying the bearing of sages!
But…
Standing there was the Empire’s infamous Second Imperial Princess—Velis Egbert!
How could this be?!
For a moment, everyone fell into stunned silence.
“So this professor is truly a man of discernment…”
Velis snapped her fingers, and the Flame Armor on her body instantly dissipated into nothing.
Looking at her clothes and her surroundings, not a single trace of disarray could be found, proving she had become even more adept with this spell.
And before Velis’s eyes, a line of information was slowly fading away.
[Consumed 30 points of mental energy. Through the True Eye, improved the Flame Armor spell. Though the optimized spell can temporarily disguise itself as the Proficient stage to deceive enemies, the true path demands diligent practice!]
In other words, no matter how optimized a spell formation might be, if its master does not practice diligently, it remains useless.
“I trust no one here has any objections, yes? This Princess has long since stepped into the Proficient stage with this spell and merely made a small improvement…”
As Velis’s words fell, the professor asked with barely contained excitement: “May I ask Your Highness, by how much does this improved spell formation increase its power?”
“Two times both in attack and defense!”
The moment Velis said this, some gasped, some sneered at what they deemed arrogant nonsense, but most were deeply shocked into cold silence.
Yet Velis’s next words silenced those who wished to voice their criticisms.
“Since this Princess has come with the will to nurture talent, this improved spell formation will be made public one month from now, and anyone in the world may cultivate it!”
Of course, the part of the improvement that disguised the caster’s proficiency as the [Proficient] stage was something Velis would never reveal, keeping that aspect unchanged.
But this decision shocked the teachers and students in the hall even more than her previous words, with some so stirred that they leaped to their feet.
“Does Your Highness truly mean it!?” someone asked, unable to contain their excitement.
“Of course!”
Velis smiled, quite satisfied with this effect.
On the Vistoria Continent, while mages were numerous, the magic of each school was controlled by academies and the great noble houses.
Apart from some very common low-tier or widely circulated spells, high-tier magic was rarely seen by ordinary people, let alone learned.
Some noble families would even lock away high-tier spells that their own clans couldn’t cultivate, refusing to auction them off or let them spread into the world.
Clutching to what one has, unwilling to share—that was the situation on this continent.
Even if a commoner stumbled upon a coveted spell, most would secretly cultivate it themselves, refusing to share it even with their own siblings.
So Velis’s announcement was nothing short of a complete overhaul of everyone’s perception of her.
If she truly was willing to share it, many among the crowd would likely change their attitude toward her.
In this world, the chance to cultivate precious magic spells could dissolve even the deepest enmity.
Not to mention that many of these people merely disliked her based on hearsay about the Bloody Princess, parroting what others said.
Seeing her carefully planned challenge turned by Velis into a stage to show off and raise her prestige, Ophelia gnashed her teeth in frustration.
She clenched her fists, interrupting the excited cheers of the others.
“So what if your Flame Armor reached Proficient? You’ve only met the standard with two spells!”
After all, the time and energy a mage needed to raise a single spell to the next proficiency stage were immense.
So…
“So… is this enough?”
Spending another 30 points of mental energy to optimize through the True Eye, Velis held the Flame Whip that writhed like a living dragon in her hand, instantly draining Ophelia of any will to continue fighting.
She collapsed into her seat in disbelief, muttering to herself.
“How could this be…”
PS:
Please vote for monthly tickets, add to collection, follow along, and leave comments and critiques, meow!
The book has already been contracted, so you can follow it with peace of mind!
Also, thanks to the lovely readers for the reminder—the confusion between [three days] and [last night] in the first chapter has been corrected.
Two chapters as usual. If you enjoy this work, this little author humbly requests even more support, meow!
Premium Chapter
Login to buy access to this Chapter.